Sinhagad Fort

Sinhagad or Sinhgad (Marathi: सिंहगड, The Lion's Fort), is a fortress located
roughly 30 kilometres southwest of the city of Pune, India. It is situated on a
hill rising 800 metres above the surrounding countryside. Previously called
Kondana (Marathi: कोंढाणा), the fort has been the site of many important
battles, most notably the battle of Sinhagad in 1670. It was also strategically
located at the center of a string of other forts such as Rajgad, Purandar and
Torna.Perched on an isolated cliff of the Bhuleswar range of the Sahyadri
Mountains, its height above sea-level is 1350 metres. Given natural protection
by its very steep slopes, the walls and bastions were constructed at only key
places; it has two gates – the Kalyan Darwaza in the south-east and the Pune
Darwaza in the north-east.

History

This fort has been quite a long history, referred to as 'Kondhana' in a Persian
poem named 'Shahanama-e-Hind', dating back to 1350 A.D.[citation needed] It was
called 'Kondana' after the sage Kaundinya. The Kaundinyeshwar temple, the caves
and the carvings indicate that this fort had probably been built two thousand
years back. It was captured from the Koli tribal chieftain, Nag Naik, by
Muhammad bin Tughlaq in 1328 AD.Shivaji Bhosale,as the commander of Ibrahim Adil
Shah I, was entrusted with the control of the Pune region. His son Shivaji,
however, refused to accept the Adilshahi and initiated the task of setting up
Swarajya. He gained control of Kondana in 1647 by convincing Siddi Amber, the
Adilshahi Sardar who controlled the fort. Bapuji Mudgal Deshpande played key
role in this activity.In 1649, it had to be handed over to Adil Shah for Shahaji
Maharaj's release. Shivaji Maharaj recaptured it back in 1656 again with the
help of Bapuji Mudgal Deshpande,who convinced Fort commander by giving land in
newly created Shivapur village and peacefully gained control of fort.This Fort
saw attacks of Moguls on 1662,1663 and 1665.In 1664,Shahistekhan- mogul general
even tried to bribe people of fort to hand over the fort to him but he was
unsuccessful.Unfortunately in a Purandar Pact it went into the hands of the
Mughal army chief Mirzaraje Jaysingh, in the year 1665. In 1670, Shivaji Maharaj
re-conquered this fort and then it stayed under Maratha rule till 1689. After
the death of Sambhaji , the Mughals regained control over. Again in 1693 the
Marathas recaptured it headed by Sardar Balkawade. Chatrapati Rajaram took
asylum on this fort during Mogul raid on Satara but Rajaram died on Sinhagad on
the 3rd of March 1700 & in 1703 Aurangzeb conquered the fort. In 1706, it once
again went into the hands of the Marathas. Pantaji Shivdev of Sangola and the
PantPratinidhis played key role in this battle. Then this fort remained with
Maraths till 1818, when the British conquered it.British however took three
months to capture this fort highest time ever for them to win any fort in the
Maharastra..